Weezer (2019)

Atlantic / Crush

Weezer’s cover of Toto’s “Africa” is everywhere. A cover the internet begged for. A huge hit. Way too huge. The biggest song the band has had in over a decade. Weezer played Ryan Seacrest’s Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Years Eve, or whatever it’s called. So why not cash in?

And Weezer (The Teal Album) actually works. Weezer is a very capable band doing some very good covers. And they like covers! A Stereogum article from 2011 lists thirty great covers by Weezer. And only one of these songs is on that list! Certain covers here make more sense than others. “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” “Happy Together” and even “Take On Me” are perfectly suited for Weezer’s clean pop sensibilities with plenty of synths to go around. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and “Stand By Me” work as well. Hell, even Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” is fun. (I know, I know, the song isn’t supposed to be fun.) The only one that fully misses the mark is “Billie Jean,” and who cares? Certainty not Weezer. This is just more of what made “Africa” so successful. None of the covers, maybe save TLC’s “No Scrubs,” go out of the way to be different or weird. They simply are.

Weezer are men in their late forties doing whatever the hell they want. They’re arguably one of the biggest rock bands working. Everyone constantly compares their current output to music they made in their twenties. They’re not really “cool” but are still “cool outcasts.” Weezer are sort of the best possible band. This covers album is released in complete earnest but with a giant wink and nudge. Very few bands can pull that off and Weezer do it like experts. They know there’s clearly no reason for this ten-song collection to exist. But there’s also no reason for it not to exist. They even use their signature Weezer (The [insert color] Album) formula to show that this is a real entry into their catalogue.

If nothing else, this album is a great promotion for Weezer (The Black Album) that is going to be released in March. So why not enjoy it? If you don’t want to listen to it, don’t. Weezer couldn’t care less. But for anyone that likes a good clean pop cover by a band who is very good at cover songs, hey, here’s ten songs for you.